"Jerry Jones is the only person who can actually fix this and he also might be the only person who doesn't know it is broken."- 12/30/13
Daily Commentary on the Dallas Sports Scene - By Bob Sturm - Sportsradio 1310, The Ticket

John Arne Riise spoke of "destiny" last night as he struggled to come to terms with the reality that he and Craig Bellamy, reluctant golfing partners turned slayers of Barcelona, had scored the goals to condemn the reigning European champions to their first continental defeat in this arena in 14 games.

This staggering tie had been played against the disconcerting backdrop of events on the Algarve last week, when Liverpool's training camp had degenerated into a drunken frenzy with Bellamy reportedly threatening Riise with a nine-iron. But after the Welshman celebrated his equaliser here with a lusty golf swing as he tore towards the corner flag, all that was left was for Bellamy to tee up Riise wonderfully for the second-half winner to complete the visitors' astonishing comeback.

"It was destiny for both of us to score, I think," conceded Riise in the aftermath, the memory of his fierce right-footed finish seared on the memory. "Both Bellamy and myself have had a difficult run-up [to the game] but we've put it behind us when it mattered. The team is happy. We're going to enjoy this. We put the incident behind us very early and we worked hard for the team and we'll move forward.

"His celebration didn't bother me. Look, he's had a difficult time as well and I could see it meant a lot to him, so I'm happy for him that he scored and the whole team is as well. As for my goal, I don't think I've ever scored with my right foot. I just played on instinct - I could have taken a touch with my left but when I got the ball from Bellamy I just thought 'Smash it'."

3 comments:

As the resident Arsenal fan, I was not pleased with the scores from u.e.f.a for the week. Mostly, because of a uninspired performance by the Gunners against a mediocre PSV Eindhoven squad. I think the game film is out there for opposing teams on Arsenal: sit back and defend the hell out of your goal. Of course, if they find a seam, they'll exploit with an ugly-stick.

As for Liverpool, good job. However, I'll temper that by saying that former World Footballer of the Year, Samuel Eto'o was riding the pine the whole game. I suppose there's no excuse for the Catalonians, though; not with that talent-base. What's even more unbelievable is that Barca's best player may be Iniesta and not Ronaldinho.